COMC: The aborted Golden City hot pot project, a revisit to Sam Woo

Yes, even more "COMC" (clearing out the memory card) posts. Here's a potpourri of revisits of the Chinese Restaurant variety for ya'.

The Golden City hot pot project:

I'm sure you find the photos of the "golden oldies" from Golden City kinda boring, but here are few anyway.....

Kwai Fei Chicken:

 

Though s bit inconsistent at times, the Kwai Fei Chicken is still one of my favorites here.

The lunch specials are still reasonably priced, with items like the Pork Chops with Spicy Salt.

 

Though the Peking Duck appetizer has gone up in price. If you want the dish served with minced Duck in Lettuce Cups, it'll cost you $25 now. The duck is still carved tableside.

At one point, I thought I'd try to run through all the hot pot offerings, including the seasonal specials. After a while, I just ran out of momentum, and to be perfectly frank, motivation. But here are a few photos for you.

The Golden City Seafood Hot Pot.

 

At the time we ordered this, it was priced at $16. Not bad, but I wasn't too impressed with the flavor and the quality of the seafood...except for the Sea Cucumber.

And though I enjoy the Chaozhou Beef Stew, I also enjoy the Beef Stew hot pot on occasion.

  

When done right, it is full of soft, buttery beef tendon. I also enjoy the slices of daikon radish in the dish. The "sauce" is well flavored and balanced. On not so good days, the tendon is rock hard, and the sauce edges toward too salty....or too bland.

I started losing motivation when we started ordering stuff like the Salted Fish with Taro Hot Pot.

 

There was very little salted fish, and this was very bland.......it was like eating paste, something I haven't done since well, elementary school. After a while all the hot pots started blending into one, and I stopped taking photos.

Though I will never forget the look on the faces of the orange chicken eating gringos on the table next to us when the Ground Pork and Salted Fish arrived and the scent hit their noses.

 

I think one of the guys threw up in his mouth a little when the next dish, Kwai Fei Chicken arrived.....per his mumblings, I guess Kwai Fei Chicken does look like "raw chicken". Sigh......like I always say, some folks are better off eating at Panda Express.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

More Sam Woo (not the "Killer Whale"):

We go long periods of time without eating at Sam Woo. But eventually we always return. Perhaps we miss the sodium and MSG induced edema........ We've had our share of not so good meals at Sam Woo, but on this visit, we enjoyed ourselves. It seemed like we hit Sam Woo at the perfect time, even the older Server there, the one whose tongue is a sharp as a cleaver, smiled and said, "I haven't seen you in a long time" made this a nice little meal.

Clams with Basil:

 

The Missus's clam and shell inventory came out...... She always does a mental count of clam meat versus shells, thinking that we get more shells than clams. The clams were plump, the flavor decent.......

Sam Woo Seafood Pan Fried Noodles:

 

Though it pales in comparison to other restaurants, for $7.95, I think this is worth it. Plus, I'm a sucker for these. This was why we came here, I was craving some pan fried egg noodles. Most of the seafood was "meh", but I just wanted the noodles.........

And finally:

 

From what many consider to be the "wrong side of the pig", fried Pork Intestines. These weren't too bad, there was that dark, dank flavor, that I've slowly (very slowly) come to appreciate. The intestines didn't have too much "debris", a nice way of saying "stuff that the pig should have gotten rid of before it met its maker".

 

We both thought the intestines could have been more crisp, and were on the oily side. The slices were also lukewarm, which made us feel a bit too "raw" if you know what I mean. There were a few pieces oozing grey matter, which we saved for those who would appreciate such things, i.e. Da' Boyz.

As much as I grumble about Sam Woo in San Diego being not up to the standards of the SGV locations, this was a pretty good meal.......

Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 103
San Diego, CA 92111

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Comments

[nhbilly]

Blahaha oh the beautiful scent of salted fish.I'm not a big fan of intestine unless its been cleaned out well. I rather eat it at home. The hot pot dishes don't look too appetizing looks as if the food was precooked and then thrown into the pot and mix with some corn starch sauce flavoring.

[Sandy]

I guess if you've never seen chicken prepared this way, it could look a little like raw chicken.

I thought you were going to compare the Not-Much-Salted-Fish & Taro hotpot to poi!

I haven't been to Golden City in ages. Maybe it's time; that pork & salted fish looks pretty yummy and uh, fragrant.

[Carol]

It would have been even better if the feets and head of the chicken were served as part of it to get the full gringo effect. That would have been awesome to see!

Love fried noodles and at that price, I'd order it too. I like the Seafood Fried Noodles from Jasmine on most days but the price is almost double than Sam Woo's. Mmm, I can go for some right now!

[kirbie]

I love intestines. My favorite fried intestine dish is actually at Spicy City, the one in dry hot pot. I haven't been to Golden City for lunch yet. I need to check it out.

[Dennis]

Without even reading your post, the title totally cracked me up! I think I had First Class Chicken? once and it looked beautiful but was quite dry. The naming a dish didn't help in my high expectations I guess.. I've been wanting to visit them again though.

[dave]

not to sound too much like an orange-chicken-eating-gringo, but BLECH, pig intestines. it doesn't help that you mentioned 'debris'. i think i will stay clear of this. haha.

[foodhoe]

Not sure I'd be able to face that dark dank flavor and what's inside of it I'm wondering if not debris?

[Eat. Travel. Eat!]

Fried pork intestine? Wow! Never have seen that before at Sam Woo! The clams look really good compared to our Sam Woo in our area. Pretty comparable to our favorite clam places :).

I also like beef tendon too, but I find many restaurants don't cook it well. Only one place that I have been to cooks it well consistently, and that is May Mei in Arcadia.

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - Yes, the frangrance of salted fush! mmmmmm....

Hi Sandy - Not even close to be good enough to call poi! ;o)

Hi Carol - Yes, I'm sure that would've gotten some attention.....

Hi Kirbie - If you choose well the lunch and late night - 9 to midnight specials are well worth the price.

Hi Dennis - Serving second class "First Class Chicken" is not only bad form, but false advertising as well.

Hi Dave - LOL! I know for a fact that you're no " orange-chicken-eating-gringo". ;o)

Hi FH - If it's cleaned well, you won't be tasting poor piggies last meal.

Hi Cliff - From what I recall most Sam Woo's have some kind of offal dish on the menu. To me the best Sam Woo locations (I've even been to the one in Toronto!) are in Alhambra and Monterey Park.

[Jeff c]

Hey Kirk,
Saw this post and it made me wish I lived in California. Those pigs intestines are my wife's favorites. I was also like you. It took a bit of getting used to. What turned me around was a dish in Hacienda Hts. Sichuan restaurant. Very well fried and crispy with all the lovely ma la spicyness. A real winner. Of course I've had the pao cai style with konyakku as well as the stinky tofu and red braised sauce with intestines in Taiwan. All for the lover of that dark dank smell.

[Kirk]

Hi Jeffrey - Pig guts are everywhere here.....more posts on them are coming up! I hope you're keeping cool in this hot and humid weather.